Insta Joys

i am behind again...

it seems to be the theme for my poor blog this summer

so here are two weeks of iphone pics

be warned there are a TON of pics

indoor tent for kids

easy set up

easy take down

easy to store

my kind of tent

who needs bracelets when you've got hair bands

my boy earned a movie date for completing his summer reading

i checked the paper the night before, got the movie time, and off we went

between thursday night and friday afternoon they changed the time of the movie

we hit up the frozen yogurt place to soothe this boys disappointed heart

these two were scheming

well really the older one is scheming and he just gets his little sister to join in on his plan

he makes big promises like if we get the scooter you can have the first ride

she adores her brother so that sounds like a great plan to her

i know her brother and i am pretty sure she would get the first ride but maybe not any rides after that :o)

we had a make up movie date

his choice... smurfs of course

i thought it was ok

he LOVED it

i saw the idea for pizookies on pinterest {please tell me you are on pinterest... full of amazing stuff}

before my finger had left the mouse my friend sarah had already posted about her pizookie creating

one night as we were sitting in the backyard finishing dinner, our neighbors walked over looking for dessert.  

so i whipped up some pizookies... easy, quick, and perfect on a summer night.

they might be my new favorite.

the scheming that was happening up top

it was all about creating this poster for their dad

they hung it up on the wall so when he parks he truck he would see it

front and center to his window

my boy wants a motorized scooter

he is saving every dime he finds

he is trying to convince us that it is a good idea {its not}

at some point every weekend i have a date with TiVo and this stack of books

creating our lesson plans for the week

i have been searching for a couch for my girls' room for almost a year

i haven't found the right thing for the right price

as i was returning home one sunday afternoon, landon is flagging me down as i come into the neighborhood

he is so excited he can hardly contain himself

our neighbors were getting rid of this couch 

and gave it to us for FREE

i can handle a couch for FREE

it needs a little TLC but for free i can give it some TLC

landon picking up scraps of paper with his feet

otherwise known as anything he can do to procrastinate

sometimes a little diet dr.pepper with cherry is needed to make it through an afternoon

especially our first weeks where we were juggling swimming lessons, the start of football, morgan still having morning gymnastics practice, and squeezing in some last bits of summer fun

sonic happy hour i sure do love you!

if you don't have sonic i am sorry. you are missing out

even though is been in the upper 90's football season has started

thankfully there are a few shady trees to help the parents from melting

my boy will be playing QB, sometimes on the line for defense but mostly cornerback on defense

i think she could color, trace, and draw most of the day

she loves doing her "school" work

lovely colored ramekins

you know what ramekins mean, more pizookies

to kick off football season landon played in a jamboree at boise state

he looks pretty cute in his little uniform

but who decided on white shorts for little boys?

it could NOT have been a mom

one of our friends was turning 40 and his wife had a luau themed surprise party

mauryn spent the night collecting lei's from everyone

 and sneaking key lime cupcakes

i went to see The Help... again

it was even better the second time

i took morgan with me this time

we both loved it

seriously one of the best movies i have seen in a very long time

i have a collection of mini erasers that i have had since i started teaching

they work great as manipulatives for math - sorting, counting, patterning, addition/subtraction, etc..

some little people in my house mixed all the erasers together

ugh!

mixed up erasers turn into a sorting project for this little lady

this has occupied her for days

its great

i am getting my organizational needs met by having all the erasers sorted 

and she is learning about sorting 

its a win win situation

we went to the fair last week

it was 100 degrees as we pulled in to the parking lot

oh brother was it hot

when you get free tickets that include free dinner you don't complain about 100 degree temps at the fair

my kids are little city slickers

the highlight of the fair was petting the farm animals and brushing them

as we were walking through the midway and preventing my husband from hyperventilating from the crowds of people, we ran into mauryn's bestie

they were so excited to see each other

they are both silly, goofy, crazy little ladies

mauryn's bestie has a brother who is one of landon's great friends

our science unit this year is on anatomy and physiology

our first chapter was on the parts of a cell

we made an edible cell

i though it looked gross but my kids thought it was super cool

A+ points for science curriculum that has crazy fun hands on activities

my kids LOVE it

my super cool new tea mug from cuppa kim's mug swap

i love it

thanks cindy!

mauryn decided last week she wanted to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels

she had shown zero interest in riding without training wheels or even really riding her big bike

we came home one night and our neighbor cooper {who is a year younger} was working on riding without training wheels

mauryn wasn't going to let cooper one up her

no mam

so she hopped on her bike and off she went with a little assistance from dad

she was a pro by the end of the night

now she really seems like such a big kid

i came back from a run the other morning and was greeted by mauryn

who decided to perform a dance on the driveway for me

this is so typical of mauryn

constantly singing and dancing

see the pointed toes... a constant with her

i don't know that she walks she seems to dance and spin everywhere

i love love love my ipad

i do 99% of my reading on it

when i travel i take the ipad vs the laptop

i don't mind typing on the ipad keyboard

if i need to a longer email or a blog post it was a little cumbersome

i finally took the plunge and bought a keyboard for my ipad

i can't wait to test it out

linking up with jeannett {super late} for insta friday

Insta Joys

i am going to apologize now there are a TON of pictures

i uploaded my pics last week on friday morning

i was all ready to get my insta joys posted

we were heading out of town and it came down to getting my house clean or finishing the post

my house won

so now you are in for two weeks worth of iphone pics

i am linking up with jeannett over at life rearranged

here's what we've been up to this week:

landon has found a love for star wars

his buddy went to disneyland and got to make his own light saber

as soon as his buddy got home from disneyland he invited him over with one condition 

BRING YOUR LIGHT SABER

i think landon has a little light saber jealousy

it is now on his list to make his own light saber when we take our trip to disneyworld

a night at the drive in - love!

in her pj's happily singing on her bike

she is pretty much always singing

she thought all her little friends needed a ride

so by the armful she brought them out and put them on her bike

one of lance's clients got married and they had their reception at a local winery

it was gorgeous

i loved the cupcake table

the cupcakes were fantastic.... yum!

on the hill at the winery at sunset

the first salsa of the season

yes, please!

art work on our front entry

i love this boy

i am his bff

at least on this day i was

he changes his mind often

i made him cookies

i don't mind buying his love

i was setting up the kids' work boxes for our first day of school

it's acceptable to have frozen yogurt for dinner, right?

it says it keeps you healthy,

 is good for your waistline and tummy, 

and is a good source of protein

i am going with it as an acceptable dinner option

the kids earned free tickets to the local club baseball game

the players read to the kids before the game starts

landon and the mascot humphrey

mauryn was terrified of him

i think she just put on a good show since she isn't about drama at all {ahem}

she did warm up and give him five before we left

the girls were way more interested in getting their faces painted

while morgan was at gymnastics one morning the two littles and i ventured to the zoo

it was a cool morning and we had a great time exploring some of the new exhibits

some of the highlights were:

feeding the goats

and the butterfly garden

mauryn is always trying to keep up with her big brother

they tend to reenact scenes from the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe

she was carrying her sword in case she had to fight off the white witch

s'mores caramel corn

please and thank you

do you remember pudding pops as a kid?

oh wait i am dating myself

as a kid i loved pudding pops but i haven't noticed them in the stores

the kids and i made some one night

nothing better than this pudding pop face!

last weekend we headed for the mountains to camp

i was in charge of breakfast one morning so i made cheater caramel rolls

in order to condense my packing i mixed all my dry ingredients together and put my instructions on the bag

the main reason we went to the mountains was so lance and our neighbor pat could work at an aid station for a race

can read the sign?

the race was for people running a 50 K{about 33 miles}, 50 mile, or 100 mile race

these are crazy people!

we camped in an area where we could see the runners come past

so we would set up and cheer them on throughout the day/evening

the first 100 mile finisher ran for 27 hours 

through the mountains

at night

where there are bears, mountain lions, and other creatures

crazy people

it was pretty amazing to watch these endurance athletes

while the boys were up in the mountains working their aid station, we took the kids on a little hike

our neighbors had camped in this same area a few weeks before and found a path that led to this cabin

it is in the process of being remodeled and then rented out by the state

it is a really cool little cabin

the cabin is right next to some hot springs

in the middle of summer on a warm day were a little hot

they would be perfect in the winter

mauryn didn't mind the little drips under this ledge

the kids spent the majority of the weekend on the river

throwing rocks

swimming

trying to wade across it

and retrieving their shoes and lost toys

i mentioned we camped

this is how i camp

i don't mind sleeping outside

i don't really mind the not showering

i can deal with using a porta potty for the weekend

it's the not washing our hands with hot water and soap for days that grosses me out

the RV solved that problem for me

we had clean dishes

we had semi clean hands on kids

and a place to hide out from the bugs

thank you to our neighbor joanie for loaning us her RV

this was the view from the RV

there was a perfect fire pit right on the river

lovely

monday was our first day of school

we run on a modified year round schedule

i start school early but then we can take some longer breaks during the year 

which i love so i get some full weeks to get projects and things done around the house

we usually finish up by the middle of may

so by this time of year we are all ready for a routine again

first day = DONE!

landon and mauryn were finishing up their second session of swimming lessons

this is how i liked to spend my time while they were in the pool

sipping a drink from sonic happy hour and enjoying a book on my ipad

perfection!

{i am reading when crickets cry... really good so far. what are you all reading?? i need to pick the book for my book club this month. any suggestions??}

little miss sass had to run into the dance studio for a little class this week

she was thrilled to be putting on her leotard again

with her 20 some hair bands as bracelets

she may just be a trendsetter.

my heels are awful

i go barefoot 90% of the time and my feet suffer from it

i have tried many different things to help my heels but nothing really works

until this stuff. 

amazing.

sometimes those as seen on tv things really do work

landon loves to use the drill

or any power tool for that matter

he was more than happy to be the lead drill man when making the frame for our tent

little fishy loving the water

the last day of swimming lesson = lots of fun

landon loved this game where his teacher tossed him the ball and he tried to get it when he jumped off the board

the frame was ready all that was missing was the cover

so i had a date with my sewing machine to finish the cover

how was your week??